Let's talk Buckwheat

[Peeps]

I had a new 1/2 ac area opened up in the woods with a Dozer last summer. The clearing of the debri removed what little top soil had been in that area leaving a sandy base. I put in winter rye and it grew well and the deer hammered it. Now I'm thinking of nuking the WR in May, using my drag to work it and lime in a bit and then planting buckwheat. Let that grow over summer, mow or spray and mow with my lawn mower or spray and nock down with the drag and replant with WR again for the fall. I figure this will be a good way to build up the soil and the deer should graze it hard. No ag in area all forest. We are also putting in a bee hive so the buckwheat should be good for them too.

 

[wiscwhip]

That is a good plan. Throw down a bit of red clover with your WR next fall just to see if it takes.

 

[shawnv]

I had a new 1/2 ac area opened up in the woods with a Dozer last summer. The clearing of the debri removed what little top soil had been in that area leaving a sandy base. I put in winter rye and it grew well and the deer hammered it. Now I'm thinking of nuking the WR in May, using my drag to work it and lime in a bit and then planting buckwheat. Let that grow over summer, mow or spray and mow with my lawn mower or spray and nock down with the drag and replant with WR again for the fall. I figure this will be a good way to build up the soil and the deer should graze it hard. No ag in area all forest. We are also putting in a bee hive so the buckwheat should be good for them too.

Buckwheat is one of the main cover crops on my farm. It matures very fast, like six weeks and the deer here love it not to mention the bees. If you let it mature is will be 4+ft tall so if you have a mower that can handle it that is all you will need, no need to spray it first and not spraying will benefit your soil more. One thing if you do let it mature, it will reseed and come up with the WR which isn't a bad thing because it will last until the first front and then the WR will take over.

 

[Peeps]

I know some say deer don't hit buckwheat that hard but I think they will hammer mine. They ate all my brassicas last year when they first sprouted, no waiting for frost and bulbs.

 

[wiscwhip]

We used it all the time on our sands in Juneau Co. It was the only thing other than soybeans(which the deer would hoover to the dirt about 3 to 4 weeks after it sprouted) that we could plant in spring and get to grow fast enough to be able to survive the July and August dry spells we got on that beach sand. We usually just let it seed out and tilled it under, we welcomed the free seed and extra free food as did the deer. We didn't really worry about producing "farming quality" looking food plots, the deer don't care either way.

 

[shawnv]

I know some say deer don't hit buckwheat that hard but I think they will hammer mine. They ate all my brassicas last year when they first sprouted, no waiting for frost and bulbs.

As long as it's not planted too thick my usage has been pretty high. Most of the browse had come from when it's between 12-30" tall.

 

[bueller]

Buckwheat gets heavy usage by me. I like to plant it around Memorial Day and let it mature. Sometime between mid-August and Labor Day I overseed with winter rye. I spray at that time only if weeds or grass is an issue, which it usually is for me. I do not cut my buckwheat. My sprayer and seed spreader are both ATV operated so after spraying and seeding the winter rye a good portion of the buckwheat is knocked down already. What is not knocked down provides a bit a standing cover moving forward. Don't be afraid to throw a small amount of brassica seed in with your buckwheat if you have any leftovers handy.

Some say buckwheat does not need lime or fertilizer. I agree that it does not "need" it but in my sandy soil it makes a huge difference. These are pictures taken at the same time of two different plots planted on the same date. The first is a new plot, the second is a plot that we've been "improving" the ground for a number of years now. Difference in height, thickness, and weed fighting abilities is clearly evident.

 

[bueller]

Pulling a drag over the mature buckwheat after spraying gly and spreading winter rye seed works very well.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Like Bueller said, we rolled last year's BW with a cultipacker and seeded brassicas into the flattened BW. The brassica came up pretty well, along with some chicory we threw down. Our BW plots look like the 2nd pic of Bueller's in post #7. We plant some every year for food, soil improvement, and bees. Deer seem to hit it between 6" and 18" tall, but they don't hammer it like soybeans. It's a good plant for us.

 

[Peeps]

A lot of great ideas. I think buckwheat will be a part of my rotation for years to come.

 

[tooln]

Here's a picture of buckwheat that was planted on 7-11-14, the picture was taken 8-11-14. This was on a plot that had never been planted before. No soil test or fertilizer was put down. I did put down some lime. I was very pleased with the results. In fall I seeded WR and rolled the BW down.

 

[shawnv]

A little side note that if you also plant AWP with Buckwheat they work very well together and really increase the N production significantly more so than if planted separately per some recent university cover crop studies.

 

[TjdUSAF]

Here's a picture of buckwheat that was planted on 7-11-14, the picture was taken 8-11-14. This was on a plot that had never been planted before. No soil test or fertilizer was put down. I did put down some lime. I was very pleased with the results. In fall I seeded WR and rolled the BW down.

Other than the lime, did you do anything else in the plot prior to 7-11 that summer? Mow? Gly? Till?


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[Bowsnbucks]

Thanks Shawn - - Good idea for the AWP.

 

[Big Snow Man]

I have a new area that we had dozer work done last year. I planted WW and WR last year. I was thinking about planting spring oats in early May and between the wheat, rye and oats coming to maturity I would kill in July and repeat the process. I want to get the organic matter built up and the deer won't touch any of this in June and July. When I plant buckwheat they keep eating the stuff off unless I plant thick.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I forgot to mention another thing we noticed about our BW. When it gets to 2 ft. tall and taller ( 40" ), the deer have trails beaten down in it to travel thru while going to plots of brassica, clover, rye and the apple trees. It seems they made use of it for COVER as well as forage. We also found a few beds in it. I know guys plant sorghum and switch for screening / security for deer - I just thought I'd mention this aspect of BW that we noticed at our camp.

 

[bueller]

^^^ I've noticed the same thing. IME the "cover" aspect of the buckwheat also promotes more daytime feeding compared to "shorter" crops.

 

[dipper]

By nuking the rye this spring u are not going to benefit from its organic building properties. Plus the free seed come fall, but most importantly the little effort needed to plant.

 

[dipper]

Around half the om rye is able to produce comes from the roots. Most people don't think of that. By killing it in the spring, the plant hasn't had a chance to really do its thing. That rye will give u very little soil building if u kill it in the spring.

 

[Big Snow Man]

That's why I'm going to plant spring oats in my wheat rye oat fall seeded mix and let it all mature in July before replanting in August.